Technet, a Spokane support group for high-tech executives, plans to launch a forum that would help entrepreneurs here meet qualified investors who are willing to provide venture capital.


Tentatively called the Technet Investors Forum, the new effort will kick off this month, when a panel of financial, legal, and high-tech experts will review the business plans of the first three Spokane companies selected by Technet to participate. Once qualified by that panel, the three ventures will have the opportunity to make presentations to a group of about 50 to 60 potential investors that Technet expects to draw to an invitation-only forum on Oct. 19 at Hotel Lusso downtown, says Jeannine Marx, co-chairman of Technet.


A Technet steering committee that includes such businesspeople as Gordon Budke, a retired accounting executive and civic leader, and Jim Simmons, president of ICM Asset Management Inc., is identifying potential investors who would attend the October forum. Marx says representatives of five other fledgling high-tech firms here also will be invited to attend the first forum, with the idea that theyll be able to network informally with the investors.


The three companies tentatively selected to make presentations at the first forum are Byte Dynamics, a software development firm; Visiontec LLC, a contract electronics manufacturer; and Worldwide Packets, the new venture being launched by Packet Engines founder Bernard Daines.


Technet doesnt plan to formally link investors to companies that need cash, but rather wants to provide a venue where that can happen naturally. This is still going to be very loose, Marx says. Its up to them to make contacts.


In addition to qualifying selected companies for forum presentations, she says, Technet will put officials of those companies in contact with people who can help them polish their business plans and make their presentations more professional in preparation for the forum.


Depending on the success of the first forum, Technet plans to hold two more of the forums next year, providing six more young companies an opportunity to make presentations to potential investors, and arranging for those involved in as many as 10 more ventures to be able at least to rub elbows with such people.


Eventually, says Marx, Technet hopes to encourage some of the investors to form an investment pool that might provide venture capital for local high-tech firms. From there, she says, the idea could grow to include more frequent forums.


Ultimately, wed like to get to the point where we rent out an entire floor of hotel rooms where investors can rotate between each room every half hour and talk to a collection of firms that need money, Marx says.


For information on the forums, e-mail Marx at [email protected].